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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Thanks, Poppy

It is not clear whether or not all the Bush One people, now a part or soon to be a part of the Bush 2 administration, will actually make things better, but it doesn’t really matter. Just like with every other unsuccessful endeavor that the President has tried, Daddy is there to try and bail him out. What did we really expect from a guy who has never done anything right? What did we expect from someone without any intellectual curiosity or even concern about what he says. Just for example, my friends from Atlanta mentioned that at the Martin Luther King ground breaking the President didn’t even take the time to find out where Dr. King was from. The place he credited (Sweet Auburn) is only a part of Atlanta. But he doesn’t care if what he says is correct, because he’s the President. And if anyone mentions the mistake, we’re just picking on him, and we are not loyal to the nation, under God, indivisible, for which we stand—OK it’s wrong but why should I be any different than the President. Except that I’m smarter. And I don’t mean that in a “smartest kid in the class” kind of way. I mean it in a Rose Groman (my mother) kind of way. She always said, “smart, smart, stupid”. It was never clear exactly what this meant but in this case I would tell you that it means, even if you have been to elite prep schools, and have an Ivy League education, it doesn’t make you wise or street smart. Nor is it an indication that you have even the slightest degree of common sense or can become a better, more compassionate conservative. La De Da.

The White House must have been jumping for joy when the Democrats won. We know they haven’t thought much about a legacy. That political genius from Utah (Karl Rove) probably didn’t think it was worth considering when he could find a way to legislate or some would say sabotage personal and civil rights. They clearly didn’t care about the Republicans who serve in the Congress. If they did they would have fired Rumsfeld months ago. And additionally, they would have found a way to get rid of Cheney. God knows, with his health issues and a gay daughter it would have been easy enough—I’m kidding about the gay daughter. I think she should be allowed to marry anyone she wants. So what were they thinking? Wait a minute, maybe they did care about Republicans – not individuals but the party. Maybe they were thinking.

It was probably something like; The “it’s Bill Clinton’s fault” isn’t working anymore, so if the Democrats take the House and the Senate we will have an opportunity to blame them for all the problems of the last eight years. You just wait Henry Higgins! you will see this new camaraderie replaced with newer hostility. Oh sure, the Democrats have an agenda that differs from the Republicans. Their priorities include raising the minimum wage, health care issues, and of course, finding some solution to the war. But we’re already hearing that we need to send more troops in order to have fewer troops and that the situation is cumbersome and impossible. So while we wring our hands and try to find an escape clause somewhere in the literature, the Republicans will have only one two year agenda – taking back the congress and keeping the White House. And now that the Democrats are supposedly in charge, they will be able to lay blame for any national or international effort on the recently powerful opposition.

What I find is interesting is that while all my Democratic friends are happy about the results of the election, there is no one who is jumping for joy. If we believe the pollsters, we realize that people voted against the Republicans not for the Democrats. People felt it was time for a change and realized that power corrupts – certainly when there are no checks and balances. If we are not diligent in our efforts to make things “better” for a majority of voters, it is possible that we could lose everything we gained in 2008. It is possible that this Republican defeat will actually become a Republican victory. We’re just sayin...Iris